TOWARDS A CULTURE OF INTERGENERATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH

Rev. CB Samuel

Broadly speaking, there are five generations in any community. For want of better categorization, I begin with the popular terms: (1) Traditionalist, born between1929-45), so in the age group of 74 and above (strictly speaking 74-90), (2) Boomers, born between 1945-1960/64 and currently between 55-74, (3) Generation X, born between 1961/65-1979 and now 40 -55 years old, (4) Generation Y, born between 1980-95 and in the age group of 24-39, (5) Generation Z, born after1995/96 and in the age group of Age 9 – 24.

The different
generations are the same in the church too. The last category, Generation Z, is
broken into three groups: Pre-teens (9-12), Teens (13-16), University Students
(17-21) and Early working groups (22-24).

Most of our churches,
especially those in the cities are multi-generational. Each generation
has assigned space for functioning and expression. In some cases, there are
sub-groups that are also gender based or interest based. Each of
these groups function independently, defining their activities and
purposes. However, usually these multi-generational groups function not
as inter-generational.

Before I proceed
further, it is important to spell out what I understand as the key task of
leadership. Leadership is about decision making. While an important component
of leadership is influence, the key task of leadership is decision making. So
when we consider the generational inputs into leadership table, one important
criteria is their ability to add value to the decision making process. Where do
we go? What values encompass our directions? How do we ensure the assimilation
of vision and values? These are some key leadership questions.

Another important
aspect to remember is that irrespective of the generation types, there are
essential givens about the church. First, the church is the body of Christ, and
every person belongs to that body because of the redemptive work of grace, and
our belonging being affirmed by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. It
is therefore, obvious, that a person belonging to the Traditionalists
generation may be a new believer and a child may be spiritually ahead in years.
So the popular categories of generations, may be in relation to physical years
and even emotional and mental age, it may not reflect one’s spiritual age at
all. Second, the church is built by the Spirit who gives gifts to enable
everyone to make their appropriate contribution; and the gifts are given
irrespective of the generation one belongs to; and the gifts are given
according to the will of the Spirit.

It is obvious also
that the generations go through a certain process in their shaping. Some of the
key external factors that shape each generation in specific phases in their lives
are family, community, peers, the economic pressures, understanding of success
and of failures. For instance, those in the age group of 74 and above, passed
through the history of world war, the movements for freedom and independence.
Those would have been their initial years. Then they moved on therefore to be
builders of their own aspirations against all odds. Today they are rich
with resources of experiences of perseverance in all aspects. They are
most likely done with work hours, pay checks, and the likes so bring to the
leadership table and its decisions a desire for peace. They will place a very
high value on people and regard people as more important than programs for the
most part; this generation more than any other will ask the question
“how does this decision make everyone happy” They are still with
us, but to some extent they are like the great cloud of witnesses whose
learnings could be very useful to discern what matters from what does not; to
go deeper as much as extending our tents.

The Boomers as they
are called in the Western literature, in the Asian context generally those
whose early years belonged to the early years of the independence of their
nations. I prefer to call them Dreamers, instead of Boomers. While they may not
have struggled for freedom, they were recipients of hopes, and worked to make
the dreams a reality. It was a generation that make things happen and shape a
new future. And in most situations, they worked to make what is seen today from
what was not. They are confident on possibilities. They bring to the table
today the capacity of planning and developing a blueprint to translate plans to
reality. This generation would probably be in a phase of life where they
are riding the wave of their own time and relational investments. 55-70 is
generally a time when you are working in a consultancy role given all your
experience and expertise at whatever you spent your life doing. They will bring
to the leadership table that concept of “what’s the focus, the most
important one thing you want to do”.

The next generation
belongs to the age group of 40-55. Most often they have rich experience in
managing the implementation of the plans. Like the Dreamers, this generation
too inherited the freedom and opportunities. They were driven by the desire to
consolidate, upgrade and expand. They bring to the leadership table the strong
belief that with hard work anything can be achieved and the focus on growth is
their very valuable contribution.

Generation Y, is
largely driven by being alternate and innovative. This group brings to the
leadership table, the enquiry of doing things differently and out of the
box.

And finally the
Generation that is soon to be more than 40% of the population. Up to the
ages of 12 this group is catered to in the church by teaching and opportunities
to participate. The ages of 13-16, has a strong desire to express opinions and
is predominately shaped by their peers. It is in this age group many even come
to know Christ and are filled with the desire to know and are open to be shaped
and directed. However, in this generation, the leadership value is brought to
the table by those in the age groups of 17-21 and 22-24. They have a high level
of energy, relevance-driven, capable of innovative use of technology,
sensitivity to broader issues and keen on public involvement. While the
17-21ers are confident of working things out, the 22-24rs are realistic due to
experiences of difficulties and failures. There is a good mix of aspirations,
and caution to risk taking.

So intergenerational
leadership is bringing the strengths and learnings to the leadership table in
shaping directions of impact. The caution however is that as much as there is a
divide between leadership and management, even here it is possible to mistake
intergenerational leadership to intergenerational management. Some generations
are richer in leadership resources and others in management.

Christian leadership is essentially spiritual leadership. At the
heart of spiritual leadership are essential characteristics such as hearing
God, recognising and discerning God’s voice, keeping to the text, perseverance
despite difficulties and opposition, and attitude of Christ-likeness in success
and failure. These are not competencies that come from the world but through
years of faithfulness.

Intergenerational leadership, therefore, thrives in an environment
of hearing God, discerning God, hunger for God’s word, discipline of obedience
to the Word in personal life and perseverance in public space witness of the
gospel. It is not a strategy but a culture of the faith community. If not, it
gets reduced to making space for each other with an attitude of condescension
and desire to be entertained by each other. In contrast, where a culture
prevails there will be an attitude of learning rather than applause and mutual
fan-club groups.